


A Moment To Breathe

by Leisey



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: F/M, Incest, My First Work in This Fandom, Never thought I’d use that tag lmao, Set in ep 1, tagging just in case
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-12-27 01:23:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18293996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leisey/pseuds/Leisey
Summary: “Are you...Are you flirting with me?” he asked, eyebrows raised in surprise.She laughed, soft, self-deprecating and so typically Vanya. “You finally noticed? I’ve only been trying to get your attention since we were kids.”Or: Five had been seeking out Vanya long before he went to tell her about the apocalypse.





	A Moment To Breathe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BastetWrites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BastetWrites/gifts).



Five was man enough to admit that he had a tendency to be an asshole.

He supposed his assholish behaviour was a side effect of transporting yourself to the future, growing old there, and then transporting yourself back to the present in your younger body. His siblings would probably argue that he had been an asshole even before the time travel, but Five was certain the whole apocalypse thing probably contributed to it.

So, yeah, he was an asshole. Arrogant, addicted to caffeine, obsessed with preventing the end of the world and woefully inexperienced with any kind of social interaction.

Which is probably why he was drawn to Vanya.

Neither of them seemed comfortable in social situations. Family interactions aside, they both seemed more at ease on their own; like they could finally take a breath. Even then, Five didn’t have much experience in slowing down and taking deep breaths. His life was filled with disaster, death and desperate survival. He didn’t have time to stop and smell the roses.

In contrast, Vanya was blessedly ordinary. Ridiculously ignorant of the catastrophe that was about to unfold, of course, but ordinary.

He had appreciated it in the years before his time jump. When he was caught up in the stress of trying to prove that he could time travel, that he was capable regardless of what their old man thought, he often sought her out. She would let him vent, offer advice and lavish him with attention. Meanwhile, he would bask in her unremarkable company and just stop, relax and _breathe_.

He’d missed that during his time in the future. He had Delores, of course, but he did miss Vanya’s quiet companionship. He would often reread her book when he missed her too much. In doing that, he could almost imagine that he was back in their manor, listening to her woefully amateurish violin music.

It was strange how time, distance and the end of the world could make someone miss music that would normally make their ears bleed.

Five had often wondered what Vanya had thought about those quiet moments together, but her book made it clear that she missed them—missed _him_ —when Five had disappeared. Their connection was special to her; a sense of camaraderie in a family where Vanya wanted desperately to belong.

Although the years had jaded him, he could admit that relationship was special to him, too. It made Five curious to see how time had changed her. Would she still be soft-spoken, ever a wallflower compared to the loud, attention-grabbing personalities of their siblings? Her book proved that she had some spunk to her, but how much of that was evident outside of the written word?

Would she still be blessedly ordinary and worthy of his trust?

He sought her out at her apartment, waiting in the darkness for her to get back and practising what he’d say when she did. For a moment, he entertained the idea that she could play him something, and then he could just relax like he did when they were children. Unfortunately, though, Five returned to the past on a mission, and no calming sisters or remarkably improved violin skills were going to stop him from completing it.

He could talk to her, trust her with the truth, but there wasn’t a moment to spare for nostalgia; the time traveller was out of time.

_Weird_ , she’d called him when she got back, and Five supposed that was an accurate assessment. Certainly better than _asshole_ , which he was sure Diego would have gone with. Although, that was pretty accurate, too.

“Why are you here?” she asked.

He sighed. “I’ve decided you’re the only one I can trust.”

“Why me?”

“Because you’re ordinary.”

Five saw the momentary hurt flash over her face, and he knew he needed to be honest. Yes, Vanya was ordinary, but that wasn’t why he had sought her out. It never was, even as children. It may have been in the beginning, but it wasn’t why he kept coming back.

“Because you’ll listen,” he amended.

That was apparently enough for Vanya, because she went to go get medical supplies. He studied her as she treated his wound. His quiet, mousy sister with tired eyes and a hidden ballsy streak.

A wave of fondness washed over him. Huh. Five must have missed her more than he realised.

“You have no idea what’s coming,” he said.

She slowly wrapped a bandage around his arm. “Then tell me. I could put on a pot of coffee,” she paused, looking away with a flush to her cheeks, “or—or we could do dinner.”

Five might have been pitifully out of practice with social situations, and Delores might have been the only woman he really spoke to in close to forty-five years, but even he could understand what a blush and a dinner invite meant.

“Are you...Are you flirting with me?” he asked, eyebrows raised in surprise.

She laughed, soft, self-deprecating and so typically _Vanya_. “You finally noticed? I’ve only been trying to get your attention since we were kids.”

“You’ve always had—wait, no—I am an old man—there’s _no time_ for this.”

She tied off the end of his bandage. “I use to leave lights on for you when you disappeared, you know? So you could find your way home. I used to leave food out for you, too. Forgive me wanting to hold onto you when you finally came back.”

“The world— _there’s no time_ —”

Vanya leant in to press a fleeting kiss to the side of his mouth. Soft, surprising, and over in an instant, it made him choke on air.

“Whatever it is, I’m sure you’re allowed to take a moment to breathe, Five,” she said with a small smile, looking hopeful.

For a moment, Five wanted to take her up on it. To do dinner and see what this...whatever it was between them would be like. It was unconventional, sure, but maybe—maybe it could be something in the future, if they lived long enough to see it.

“The world ends in eight days,” he told her, “and I have no idea how to stop it.”

Five tried not to cringe as the hope drained from Vanya’s face, replaced by a blank expression like she didn’t know how to accept what he’d just said.

“I’ll put on a pot of coffee.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone.
> 
> This was my first ever commission and I'm still grinning about it. It's been a few weeks since I actually finished watching the Umbrella Academy, though, so I apologise if my characterisation is a bit off.
> 
> My prompt was:  
> "Are you flirting with me?"  
> "You finally noticed?"
> 
> It didn't go in the direction I thought it would, but I'm still happy with the result.
> 
> Please let me know what you thought in the comments!
> 
> Much love, 
> 
> Leisey.


End file.
